ROSACEAE - - Rose Family

Crataegus aemula Beadle — Rome Hawthorn

Information:

The photos were taken of a plant, growing in our yard, given to me by Ron Lance, an expert on Crataegus, and author of the Hawthorn treatment in Alan Weakley's "Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States" Working Draft of 21 May 2015. Rome Hawthorn is distinguished by leaf blades widest at midpoint or beyond; usually cuneate at base; leaves eglandular or if glandular then twigs relatively straight, most > 13 mm. wide; fruit > 6 mm.; leaves glabrous or with hairs scattered, not in tufts; [typically of upland habitats]; pyrenes plane on inner side; sepals not foliaceous, shorter than petals; flowers 3 or more per inflorescence; leaf serrations acute or finely crenate-serrulate; thorns moderately stout, rarely slender (1.5-3 mm in diameter); thorns usually > 2 cm long; fruit not black; main lateral leaf veins lead only to lobe tips in lobed leaves; petioles eglandular, or occasionally with 1 or 2 glands deciduous or obscure after spring; petiole usually 1/3 or less as long as the leaf blade; sepals elongate; leaves mostly ovate or broadly elliptic; petiole and leaf underside glabrous or sparsely hairy.

Habitat:

Upland hardwood and pine-hardwood forests, over sandstone, calcareous rock or circumneutral clay soils, uncommon but sometimes locally abundant.

Habitat information from:
Weakley, Alan S., Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States, Working Draft of 21 May 2015.

The range of Crataegus aemula (Rome Hawthorn)

The Georgia range of Crataegus aemula (Rome Hawthorn)

Zomlefer, W.B., J.R. Carter, & D.E. Giannasi. 2014 (and ongoing). The Atlas of Georgia Plants. University of Georgia Herbarium (Athens, Georgia) and Valdosta State University Herbarium (Valdosta, Georgia). Available at: http://www.georgiaherbaria.org/.